Life is a series of stages, and there is “acquiring” stage.

However, there came a point where I felt overwhelmed by my “blessings” and took a look at what was going on. At time, my boyfriend, who was a stock broker, kept saying, “Simplify, simplify.” He lived what I considered a “Sparten existence.”

It caused me to take a look at whole picture. I was exhausted all time. I went to a therapist; too bad there weren’t coaches then. She said I was “trying to do too much.” I interpreted it that I wasn’t capable of handling all these things, and redoubled my efforts.

Coaches make things more clear. “Why are you doing what doesn’t bring you pleasure?” would’ve been question to ask. Eventually I asked myself that question and here are some of things I did.

THE CLOTHES I was still operating from an old childhood scarcity-mentality. I never had “enough” clothes in high school, not because my parents couldn’t afford it, just that they didn’t want to spend their money on that. I started babysitting rigorously to buy myself clothes and makeup and stuff. Not a bad thing to do, but I realized that time was over. I gave a number of things to Goodwill, set aside a space-allotment, and stuck to it.

I did have to “dress” for my profession at time (PR), so I chose two outfits I could accessorize in infinite ways. Scarves, jewelry and pins take far less storage space!

THE DOGS Two were strays we had “adopted,” under pressure from my good-hearted son. However, they were difficult dogs, not having been well-raised, and took far more work than our original family pet. I decided to give up this rescuing mentality and at same time educate my children. We found good homes for two of them, and family pact was “no more.” We stuck with our one chosen, well-cared for, and well-trained dog.

THE ENTERTAINING WARE That’s a hard one. It’s been an abiding interest and love in my life, to entertain with all accoutrements. I decided that was an okay hobby, but to stick with what I had for a long time. How many sets of Christmas tablemats does one really need?

THE COOKWARE Life is choices. I could eliminate a lot of these things by turning to fast food, eating out, less elaborate meals. I decided this was not something to sacrifice. There are health benefits to wok cooking, steamers, double boilers, etc., and "happy" benefits to beautiful Bundt cakes. My youngest son particularly enjoyed camaraderie of a fondue meal. Our family dinners were fun for all of us, and a good thing, and I didn’t want to sacrifice that for “convenience.”

Not everything in enriched life should be “efficient.”

THE FINANCIAL PICTURE My stocks were scattered all over place, and we consolidated. It seemed risky to me to “put all my eggs in one basket,” but we did, and it resulted in a nice financial gain.

THE ORGANIZATION I decided it wasn’t all that I had that was problem – many of them were valuable to me and my lifestyle – it was organization of it all.

"Oh, that's a sweet sentiment," you might say, "but can it really substitute for latest videogame or hot toy?" Very few children raised in this materialistic culture would say, "Gee mom, thanks for making my favorite meal. What a great Christmas gift!"

Yet 20 years from now, these same children probably won't remember items that they got for current Christmas. They will, however, recall special games that their family played together, time that their older brother took them to a movie, or way their parents tucked them in at night.

These are little moments, which over time, have a huge impact. Unfortunately people tend to take them for granted. With so much emphasis on holiday shopping, and on buying perfect gift, we can lose sight of importance of less flashy, but "priceless" gifts: gifts such as thoughtfulness and gratitude that we can give to one another all year round. A diamond may be forever, but its value is nothing compared to a lifetime of moments that money can't buy.